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Monday, June 15, 2015

Retaliator Kits from around the World

Blood Angel is back, and this time he's looking at more than darts! Our resident Bow-wielding badass is here to talk about Retaliators, and not just any the variety of mod kits from across the globe.

Especially since the Retaliator pump action craze has hit, everyone wants to get the most out of their purchase and breathe new life into their blaster. Of course, drop in kits are an instant go to, but which one is best?

What makes these so different anyway? Is one brand really better than another? Can you justify the price of importing some of these kits from overseas?

Look no further for your answer dear reader. Read on and educate yourself in all things Retaliator.

You’ve seen the Retaliator pump action kits from China and Singapore. These kits are the latest and greatest trend, reviving the Retaliator. But it is not enough to just have an external kit; we want to increase blaster performance as well, but how? There are a lot of options out there, but the easiest ones seem to be the drop in kits. The three that I am going to be talk about are the OzNerfNerd/HobbyMods Retaliator Kit, Blasterparts Hard Range kit, and the Orange Mod Works (OMW) stage 1 kit.

What you see it want you get. Mostly it’s all about the main spring, but there are all kinds of extra bits that are included.

The OzNerfNerd/HobbyMods Retaliator Kit comes with a 3D printed spring compressor and a 7kg main spring. The 3D Printed bit does need a little dremeling to fit properly, but it really isn’t that difficult. I find that it does compress the spring a good deal while still allowing the plunger freedom of operation.

Next up is the Blasterparts Hard Range kit. The kit comes with a plunger guild, a stronger trigger catch spring, and an 8 kg main spring. There is some debate on whether or not you need a strong trigger catch spring, but it is nice that one is included in the hard range kit. The 8 kg spring is the strongest of the three kits. I found that the plunger guild tube really isn’t all that useful, but again it’s nice to that they included it.

Finally, we should all be familiar with the OMW Unleashed Solid Stage 1 Kit for Nerf Retaliator. Included are a metal back plate, 2 stronger trigger catch springs, a nice metal trigger catch, and a 5+ kg main spring. The metal back plate seems pretty useless to me, but it is nice that they included it. The including two trigger catch springs is a nice touch. I ended up using the second one for my OzNerfNerd kit. I found the metal trigger catch to be more of a pain than useful. The metal trigger catch, does look cool, but made the trigger sluggish and feels too heavy for smooth blaster operation. In the end I left it out and stuck with the stock trigger catch. The 5+ kg main spring is said to act more like a 7 kg spring, but I’m not so sure. In the end, it is probably better just to get the spring and a few trigger catch springs, instead of getting the full kit. I really am not a fan of that metal trigger catch.

Let’s take a look at the springs.

Overall, the HobbyMods and Blasterparts springs feel about the same. Surprisingly the OMW spring doesn’t feel that much different. I haven’t chrono’d the Blasterparts spring, yet; but the HobbyMods spring and the OMW spring are not that different in velocity. Comparing the HobbyMods kit directly to the OMW kits, there was less than a 10 fps difference in velocity.

Conclusion: I highly recommend the Blasterparts Hard Range kit. Even if the performances are similar in velocity, the heavier spring and the stronger trigger catch spring is really nice. If you want to go cheap and you live in the United States, then just stick with the 5+ kg main spring and stronger trigger catch springs.